Easter 2011

Happy Easter!

Ultrasounds

Because I am high risk with this pregnancy, for more than one reason, I get to have frequent ultrasounds. This week I was scheduled for 3. That many kind of got me nervous, and I was really worried something was wrong and nobody was telling me. My first sonogram was at my doctor's office to measure cervical length (which I go in for every two weeks for now). The second one was at the cancer center where they do the in-depth ultrasounds to measure babies and look for any abnormalities. The lady doing the ultrasound didn't talk for the first 5 minutes and I got really nervous again. Eventually she got chatty and said everything looked good. And she said it's definitely 2 BOYS! I had one girl name and one boy name picked. Now I have to come up with another boy name. Both babies were exactly the same size, which is good. She said it looks like if there were 2 placentas (my doctor was pretty sure there were 2 separate placentas 2 weeks ago), that now it looks like they're fused. I wasn't sure how that would affect the babies, but after some research, it's possible it won't affect them at all. Definitely my doctor is being extremely cautious and watching for signs of early labor. 10 weeks from now (at 27 weeks along) is when I was admitted to the hospital with Abbey and Emma. Way too early. The third ultrasound was back at my doctor's office just as a follow up. He also showed me how to do my daily Lovenox injections. They are not fun. The needle doesn't hurt, but the medication burns, and each time it leaves a bruise on my stomach. So attractive. For about the last 2 weeks I've been getting headaches every day. Some are worse than others. I am also tired all the time. I feel exhausted just going up or down the stairs. I am not allowed to lift anything heavy, so I am getting good at asking everyone to do things for me. That's so hard for me to do. I just keep hoping I don't get put on bed rest because I think I would go crazy.

Versailles Pictures

I finally added pictures of Versailles. Scroll down to my post about Versailles to view.

Suzee is Sick

Suzee is sick. Strep throat, swollen tonsils. Fun stuff.

-Friday I made an appointment for her for 5:40 pm, and forgot about it until 8 pm, at which time it was too late to go in.

-Saturday morning I called to tell them I had forgotten and reschedule, but they don't open until 11 on Saturdays. The day got busy and I forgot to call again.

-Monday morning I called and got no answer.

-Monday afternoon I called and left a message asking for another appointment. Nobody called me back.

-Tuesday Jay is sick of waiting for me to not get her in, so he calls and gets an appointment at 2:45.

-Jay takes her in for her appointment, and sends me a text around 3:15 saying "Very bad strep and very inflamed tonsils. Needed to be in sooner. Dr. said don't delay next time or she could easily suffocate in her sleep. Need to keep a close eye on her tonight and steroids should kick in by tomorrow."

-I, once again, win Mother of the Year Award. I knew she was sick, but didn't think it was that serious. She hasn't been sleeping because she can't breathe. Jay had to take her out of Sunday school because she was making too much noise "snoring." Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.

Babies

So I know I haven't even finished my posts about Paris , but I've been exhausted. Work has been crazy because it's SPRING! We swam, but the the chlorine was really high, so that's on hold. I got released from nursery and called into scouts. We had pack meeting and the amount of effort put into that by others is incredible. I don't know if I'm cut out for it. Janna had a school play. And I had my first doctor's appointment with this pregnancy.

That would be two babies. At the same time. Twins. Again. One is a side view the other is head-on. I don't even know what to think or say. The first time around I felt like I could conquer the world. This time I am slightly less confident. Or a lot less. When I thought I was having one baby, I could have probably guessed within 2 days when the baby would have been born. Now, who knows??? It could be weeks or months before my due date of Sep. 24. Abbey and Emma were born 9 weeks early after I spent a month in the hospital on heavy medication. I don't feel like that's even an option this time. So I'm going to behave. I think. I mean I'll try my best. No heavy lifting. No stocking shelves. No major house cleaning. Fun.

It was too early to tell what they are, but I am looking forward to sonograms every 2 weeks, so I'm sure we'll know soon enough. The 19 vials of blood I had drawn yesterday wasn't fun, but we'll see how things go from here.

Day 9

-We finally made it to Versailles- after ham sandwiches of course. -It was beautiful there. By far the most tourist-filled place we went. We waited in line for about 20 minutes to get our tickets to go inside. -There was so much to look at and so much to listen to. They had audio guides in several languages. -We walked a lot outside through the gardens and got down to the "bottom" where the grand canal was. Jay looked back up toward the castle, and didn't want to walk that far. We rented a little electric cart and drove around to Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon, and around the rest of the gardens that we hadn't walked through. So much history here. -We went back to the hotel for a potty break, then out to Pizza Pino again. I had spaghetti and the best lemon meringue pie I've ever had. Jay had a different pizza and chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. -We went back to the hotel to pack and try to get some sleep. We had to leave early in the morning to get to the airport.

Day 8

-We did a little more shopping, and I found a pair of boots. Grey boots. Very cute.
-We got a few things for the kids, and had a pretty relaxed day.
-We found a shopping center like a mall, and got lost there a few times.
-For dinner, I had had enough. I wanted Italian food. We went to Pizza Pino, and in my mind, it was incredible. I had lasagna and got my own creme brulee for dessert. Jay ate pizza and some cream puff dessert.
-I was exhausted. I had a hard time staying awake at night (and getting up in the morning).

Day 7

-Hotel courtyard.

-For breakfast: crepe with apples and carameland an amazing Spanish omelet. No, I did not eat the tomatoes. Jay took them for me.

-We had our traditional ham sandwiches, then headed to Musee d'Orsay. After a couple wrong turns, we got there, and took one look at the line, and decided against going inside. At least on that day. Jay doesn't love museums (big shocker), so we moved on.
-We got back on the metro and went to Champs-Elysees to do some shopping. We walked all the way up and down the avenue, and Jay is the only one who bought something- a new suit. It's true. I'm not a shopper. I have a hard time spending money on clothes, shoes, or anything other than groceries really.
-We went back to the hotel so Jay could drop off his suit and work on a few work-related items.
-We looked online for a restaurant for dinner and found Chez Jenny just 2 blocks from our hotel.
-Despite the sort of French name, the restaurant seemed very German.
-Our appetizer was what I would describe as a "pizza au gratin". It was a very thin crust, no sauce, layered with potatoes, onions and cheese. And yes I liked it despite the onions. Jay really liked it with some dijon mustard on top.
-We both ordered chicken this time. We are afraid of "beef". The chicken was really strange. Weird cuts of meat, and I don't do skin. It was served in a really small casserole-type dish in a sauce with onions. On the side was a small bowl of really thick spaghetti noodles that didn't taste like spaghetti. Overall, when I picked through it, it was okay.
-Dessert was amazing. I ordered raspberry sorbet, and Jay had creme brulee. He wouldn't share.

Day 6

-We slept in (trying to stay on that schedule), then walked down the street for un sandwich du jambon- a ham sandwich. We've already had about 10 of these since we've been here. Some are better than others. You have to be really specific about what you want on it, otherwise you get ham and butter.
-We started on my list of places to go and things to see. First was the Louvre. This is the outside.

This was a view from inside looking out.

They have the Mona Lisa (sorry no flash photography allowed) and Venus de Milo at this museum, along with lots of other sculptures, paintings, artifacts, etc. It would be easy to get lost here, except they have "sortie" (exit) signs everywhere you turn. This is a dessert we ate at the "mall" connected to the Louvre. Jay fell asleep while I ate some of it. It didn't taste like it looks...
-After the Louvre, we walked outside (it's cold here this time of year), and followed the Seine (river) for a few blocks, then crossed over at Pont Neuf. We walked along the Seine for several miles (I'm going to figure out exactly how many miles it was) and got our first view of the Eiffel Tower. We stopped at several attractions along the way, including l'hotel des Invalides, Musee de l'armee and Centre de Paris. We saw from a distance several others, but didn't want to stop, or walk over to them. Notre Dame Cathedral was one of those.
-They have boat tours on the Seine, but it was too cold.
-We took a few side streets to get to our final destination of that long walk, and stopped for a ham sandwich and some kind of apricot custard pastry/pie. We carried the pie with us and sat on a bench in the shadow of la Tour Eiffel and had our dessert.
-We got tickets for the elevator ride up, and we went all the way up. At level 2 you have to get off the elevator and transfer to another elevator to go to the top. Level 2 made me nervous, but the top was nothing because it's all enclosed. No wind, no scary ledges.
-We got to the bottom, and those little peddlers work hard. No matter how many languages you say it in, they still stare at you when you say you have 8 children. We tried English, Spanish and twice in French before the guy understood we needed 8 for our children.
-We (I) couldn't walk anymore, so we found a metro stop and after 2 train changes we made it back to the hotel.
-We cleaned up then asked the concierge for a good restaurant. She sent us to Julien. It was okay.
-Jay had onion soup and I got a salad with cheese for our starter. The cheese smelled and tasted like stinky feet. I'm told good cheeses do. I'll stick with provolone, thank you. I had chicken served with a row of long hollow noodles with melted cheese on top, and Jay tried to find beef. It was called a beef filetto, but neither of us is conviced it was actually beef. His pan fried potatoes were good, along with the asparagus and green beans.

Day 5

-We exchange some money at the airport so we would have euros. Only a few places here won't take a VISA. Some even take American money.
-We were exhausted, and headed to the hotel (after some confusion on how to get there we eventually took a tram, then the metro, which let us off right across from our hotel).
-We dropped our luggage in our room, then went out for brunch- crepes with nutella and bananas. Delicious! I can't believe I've never tried nutella before.
-We went back to the hotel and slept until late afternoon.
-Got up and had lunch/dinner, with a pecan tart and coconut creme pie for dessert. Some places don't serve your drinks with ice, but we haven't had a warm drink yet. We then walked up and down Champs-Elysees, stopping at the end for pictures in front of l'Arc de Triomphe.
-We stayed up late trying to stay close to our schedule back home so it wouldn't be a huge adjustment when we go home.

By the way- pictures will have to wait until I get home. I didn't bring a card reader with me.

Day 4/5

-Our flight from Orlando to Washington DC was uneventful. Just the way I like it.
-Our flight from DC to Paris, not so much.
-A completely full flight on a 777 where there are 2 seats next to the windows on each side, then 5 across the middle. We were in the second to last row.
-A guy across from us started losing consciousness right about the time the attendants were serving dinner.
-The attendant tried to get him to focus and answer her, which he couldn't.
-Jay comments to me on how the oxygen level in the plane was really low.
-I freak out because I thought it was just me, but it wasn't.
-I start getting light-headed and my arms get all tingly.
-Jay tells me to breathe slowly.
-Meanwhile, over the loud speaker they request that any physicians on board make themselves known.
-2 very nice 50-60 ish gentlemen come to the back of the plane, remove this guy across from my from his seat, and pull him to the back of the plane where they give him oxygen, check his stats, get him juice and water, etc.
-He eventually came to, and returned to his seat for the remainder of the flight, and saw a doctor when we landed.
-I took lots of deep breaths and the tingling finally went away.
-The flight attendant noticed that the last 2 rows hadn't gotten our dinner. She was on her second round of drinks.
-We get our food (nothing to get excited about, but it's amazing how good chicken caccitore tastes when you're starving).
-Not long after, we got "breakfast" consisting of banana bread and blueberry yogurt.
-We land in Paris at 6:30 am, and we were wasted. Neither of us slept on the flight (about 7 hours).

Day 4 So Far

-Jay got me out of bed by telling me it was 9:30 and we only had an hour to get ready and get to the airport.
-I got ready fast, finished packing, didn't fix my hair (complete frizz ball with all this humidity) and we checked out.
-Took a cab to the convention center, and Jay checks in to go back into the trade show. I was confused because I thought we were in a hurry to get to the airport. When I asked him what time it was he said "9:30".
-What?
-"How else was I going to get you out of bed?" I AM ON VACATION!
-We stopped at a couple booths, then our rep told us Orlando airport security was at least 1.5 hours.
-We rush to find the shuttle to the airport, and make it by about 2 minutes.
-Sit down on the bus and pull out our flight plan and find out the flight doesn't leave until 2:22. I thought it was 12:22. Oops!
-Better early than late.
-Check in took about 15 minutes, and so did security.
-So now we're here waiting for our flight. Another 2 hours. Paris here we come!

Day 3

-We went to the trade show in the morning and finished up right after lunch, so we decided to venture over to DisneyWorld.
-Not sure if it was Jay's knee, or the fact that we expected something completely different than Disneyland, but it was kind of...lame. Jay says he never wants to go to Disneyland again unless it's raining. The lines are just horrendous.
-The fun part was that we met Sheri (my cousin), Nick and little Leyla there, and went on a few rides with them.
-We were so glad Nick and Sheri were willing to give us a ride back to our hotel so we could avoid another cab fee (outrageous pricing here).
-They came in and had dinner with us at the hotel restaurant, which was so good. My first time eating gnocci (sp?). Jay had a much better steak. I had chicken. Sheri had steak, and Nick had lobster ravioli.
-Leyla was adorable, and we had a nice visit with them.
-Went back to our room to finish packing, and got a box ready to ship home with stuff we didn't want to lug around France.

Day 2

-We stayed up late the first night, so we slept in the next morning (kind of still on west coast time).
-Attended the trade show all day until 6 pm.
-Got asked if this was my first pregnancy a couple of times.
-Laughed about it even though nobody should even be able to tell I'm pregnant since I'm only 2 months along.
-Laughed again and said it was my 10th. Nobody believed me (I guess that could be a compliment).
- Had dinner with our sales rep and another buyer at a steak restaurant.
-Our rep ordered gator tail as an appetizer and we both tried it. It was hard for me to get down, but only because I knew what it was.
-Jay was very disappointed with his steak. Really fatty and tough. Mine was great.
-I laughed when the menu read "smashed potatoes" rather than "mashed potatoes". We call them smashed potatoes at home too.
-My feet hurt and it's only day 2.

First Leg

Notables from the first leg of our trip:

-Drove from Safford to Phoenix.
-Flew from Phoenix to Houston.
-Sat by a stinky guy who liked to chat. I'm not very chatty.
-Got my complimentary drink on the 2 hr 10 min flight, but Continental doesn't even give you peanuts.
-Ran from flight into Houston to catch flight to Orlando.
-Both flights were FULL, and coincidentally, we had assigned seats on the very last row on both flights.
-Got complimentary drink and pretzels on 1 hr 44 min flight into Orlando.
-Arrived in Orlando and paid an outrageous amount for a cab to the hotel since there was no shuttle service.
-Checked in at hotel and they were out of "standard" rooms so we were upgraded to a suite.
-Had fabulous feta cheese pizza, a hot shower, and now headed to bed!

Valentine's Day 2011

I should preface this by saying Jay is anti-Valentine's Day, so I was shocked when I asked him around 6 pm if he was going to go on a date with me he said "Sure."

For Valentine's Day, I usually make the traditional heart-shaped meatloaf. I didn't want that this year beacuse I made meatloaf a week ago, and ate it 3 times as leftovers. I made mac n cheese for the kids, and called a steak restaurant to see how busy they were. Of course it was packed, but they said if we came around 8 they would be able to seat us then. We got there about 8:15, and waited 10 minutes (not too bad). Dinner was fabulous, except since we were eating late, they had run out of mashed potatoes. I think our only mistake of the evening was leaving the kids home alone for that hour and a half. We came home to:

- Purple food coloring (from Abbey's ongoing science project) all over the counters and floor
- Black aerosol hair color sprayed all over the bathroom counter
- Crackers shoved into holes in the TV where buttons USED to be, and a non-functioning television
- 2 packages of sliced cheese torn into pieces and spread across the floor
- And numerous other food items scattered throughout the house

It could have been worse: nobody got hurt! I guess that's what I get for trying to have a romantic evening with my husband, but not planning ahead.

Jury Duty

Yesterday I got chosen for jury duty. Supposed to last only 3 days, but it's kicking my booty.

OCD

I have a daughter who is OCD about some things. She won't eat her waffles until she pulls them apart and arranges them just so on her plate.

Brook's Eczema

This time of year, Brook's eczema is the worst it gets. She scratches in her sleep, she scratches when she's awake. She can't control the scratching. I took her to the doctor today, and hopefully it will look much better soon. At least she's old enough now to understand that if she puts her cream on, it helps.

James is Trouble

James has been puking for 3 days, but he feels fine, if that make sense. So in between the puke messes he's been making, he makes other messes. He started messing around with Bob's 4-wheeler, and besides his face, his hands were covered in black grease.